"What do people do with 1/72 plastic figures?" Topic

I've been wondering what the primary purpose is behind 1/72 plastic figures. Do most people buy them to collect, keeping them sealed MIB? Do most people buy them, open them up, and maybe mess around with them like toys? or do most people buy them to paint for wargaming? I've always wondered what the primary audience is because some figures look wonderful while other are horrible, not suitable for much other than playing with as kids do.

BTW I have always loved plastic soldiers and am always torn between 1/72 and all the other metal scales. At the moment, it seems I am collecting more than painting! Then again, I spend several dollars a box so it doesn't kill me to see them sit on the shelf.

They were my entrance into real miniatures gaming. I played Gush's rules for black powder using Airfix Civil War figures and Operation Warboard with Airfix and Atlantic figures.

I would bet that more than half are stashed away by collectors.

Game with them.

I game with them -- WWI

WWI ground is not my favorite period and seems to require a lot of figs. Over the years folks have given my a lot of boxes -- probably in excess of 20. As I write this no doubt I will get a couple more.

I don't paint very many -- glue them to washers and use them to dabble with the various rules.

Zero recommendations on rules from me. Still looking.

mjc

I game with them, WW1 and colonial. Have the samurai period laying in wait for the paintbrush as well.

I paint commissions for a Zvezda collector however.

My collection of 75,000 unpainted plastic figures is for gaming. Some are very poor figures that are either old molds, or small companies with limited resources. A set of plastic figures can be in production for 40 years or even longer. I generally don't paint my figures, but new plastics and new paints do allow it now, unlike 10 or 20 years ago.

My blog as a few photos of the collection.

Mike "Bunkermeister" Creek
bunkermeister.blogspot.com

I have always loved plastic soldiers

Good thing you wrote that – I was about to rip into you as I seem to think I've seen a more anti-plastic snobbery on TMP than usual…. So my blood pressure stays at a healthy level…

It used to be a lot of kids played with these. They used to be available in department stores – it's where I got my first Airfix figures (Zellars, a Canadian dept store, and K-Mart in the 70s).

Now? I've always thought wargamers are a minority purchaser of these, but maybe not so much anymore. A lot of plastic modelers into what the IPMS guys call "braille scale" (1:72/6) collect and use them for dioramas.

This site seems to suggest non-modeler collectors are into Airfix figures, at least: soli.inav.net/~edzwil

In my case, I wargame with them. I don't like metal at all, because I'm a plastic modeler and plastic is a superior medium for conversions and detailing. After a lifetime of working with plastic, I tend to be more comfortable working with and painting plastic. I do have metal figures, but not many – mostly used as crews such as picture (the dark coloured SU-76 crews are AB metals, the lighter coloured ones are milicast resins).

And there's never been a problem with painting plastics as long a you use modeler's paints (and I've used some craft paints as well). I have many figures still sporting their original paint jobs from the 80s and some even from the 70s. I used to just jumble all my figures in plastic screw organizer boxes when i didn't base them and they are still fine.
--
Tim

I game with them: ACW, Wild West, and working on WWII skirmish. Cheap, and the only thing available in the stores over here.

1/72 scale Airfix figures introduced me to miniature collecting and painting when I was young, and the bug has never left me since. So I am really nostalgic about this scale. Most of my collection of several thousand is based on 1/2 inch plastic bingo chips. My plan is to eventually paint them all using speed method techniques. To me, this is actually a great scale for gaming, as the figures are small enough to allow a more realistic ground scale but not so small that all the fine detail gets lost (as I feel it does on some smaller scales). And they are cheap!

Playing, modelling, collecting.

Most of my sizeable Moderns collection is 1/72 plastic. Ditto for WW2 and Ancients :) I prime them with Krylon fusion and paint them. They hold up great!

When I was a wee lad I loved launching them into the sky while tied to fireworks. Now I mostly just look at them and consider if it would be worth starting a Napoleonic army with them.

"I generally don't paint my figures, but new plastics and new paints do allow it now, unlike 10 or 20 years ago."

What's the problem? I've been painting plastic figures for over 30 years with no difficulties.

I thnk you'll find that most people on TMP use them for wargaming;-)

Out in the big wide world now though the main audience are modellers.

When I was a kid they were something to be bought and played with.

I think the primary audience is collectors and modellers, wargamers probably after that. People collect anything these days after all. 1/72 focused message boards like Bennos Figures seem to be about painting plastic figures as a hobby in itself rather than gaming.

I was about to rip into you as I seem to think I've seen a more anti-plastic snobbery on TMP than usual

Now I was thinking 1/72 seems to be getting more positive interest on TMP recently…

Airfix 1/72 was my introduction to wargaming back in the 1970s. I still have the old Airfix publication on ancients wargaming by Phil Barker. I like plastics myself, though recently I have been collecting various 15mm, and I have tons of 20mm metal WW2.

Buy them, paint them, play with them, ancients, dark age, medieval, 18th century, colonial and WW2. I rarely buy metal figures if at all, I find plastic easier to work with, I've never had problem with paint coming off, I can also afford to amass large armies for my chosen periods and still be able to carry them without needing a forklift.

I think most buyers are collectors. Many use them to simply paint up and display or use in dioramas. Gamers are increasing in number.

Thanks,

John

"What do people do with 1/72 plastic figures?"

"The same thing they do with any other scale, Pinky. Try to take over the world!"

game with them, multiple armies, multiple periods,
couldn't afford it in lead,

regards

jim

I started using them because I wanted some skirmish gaming figures other than 15mm and 28mm was too expensive. Understand that 1/72 plastics are cheaper than 15mm metals!

I use them for SBH/SGD/SAM and plan on using them for WWII. I still use the 15mm metals for massed combat games.

John

Game with them, fully painted.

But I do also enjoy them in a "nostalgic" sense, because that is how I started. I still get a real buzz from buying a box – so much better than a zip lock of metal. The box art, the figures neatly laid out on the sprue – suddenly, I am 10 years old again.

But I also use metals, so no snobbery either way for me.

Painting – acrylics made the difference for me, along with Liquitex Acrylic Matte Medium as a varnish – thin PVA really.

Bend away – no flaking.

There is the collectors angle…A couple of years ago I went to the plastic figures fair just because it was within walking distance of my house…..quite an eye-opener….if you think wargamers are a bunch of wierd saddoes….check out the plastics fair!!

I figured it was collectors. What hobby doesn't have weirdos? If not weirdos then snobs? ;-)

Farstar LOL.

I collect, paint, and game with mine.

Well, if the OP had wanted a "general" opinion, then he's found the wrong forum

As most of the previous posts show, most TMP people will probably use them for wargaming.

If the OP really wants to see the full range of plastic figure purchasers, he should check out the fora on the manufacturers' sites:

HaT:
link

Strelets:
link

Of course, the kids aren't represented there, but the different type of adult buyers certainly are.

Game of course
e.g.
Ancients – WRG ancients rules, Vis Bellica, DBA
Fantasy – HoTT, home grown rules
WWII
ACW
Napoleonics (no metal manufactrurer even scratches the surface compared to what is available in plastic)
Skirmish set-ups for Dark Ages
SF – using Airfix spacemen

much much more as well

"I figured it was collectors. What hobby doesn't have weirdos? If not weirdos then snobs? ;-)"

No, sorry,you should have been there to see it….When I left out I was half expecting some police photogapher fom the peaodo unit to be outside snapping anyone who came out. It was bad.

glass houses and stones

I have been to a few toy fairs and found people there as diverse as any other hobby.

Mind you, I am now interested to know what a "peaodo" (sic) looks like so I can protect my kids

I have wargamed with plastics for a number of years. Mostly Napoleonics, plenty to choose from these days and still increasing. They have the great advantage of being cheap, and relatively easy to get hold of.
Plastic, metal, paper- all have their place, just like the big variety of scales these days. Many of us wargame on a budget and price does actually matter.

I have loads of them and have collected them for years. Like most, I started with Airfix 1/72 and then moved into their 1/32…and then as time passed (and my abilities, wants, and finances evolved), I moved into metal figs.

As for the plastic 1/72 figs, some I paint up but I think I just buy them for the same reasons that I acquired (and still do) loads of 25-28mm lead and plastic figs…because one day when I win the lottery I will be able to stop working and devote my full attentions to what I have…and of course, to all those new plastic and metal figures yet to come!

I'm painting and gaming with them.
There's a good selection of Napoleonics available.
Particularly French and Russians.

The Zvezda figures are spectacular.

And Milhouse, don't forget Pegasus and Caesar Miniatures!

There is a lot of quality out there for those of us who buy and game with 1/72 (far more in terms of range and poses than metal can offer normally). PSR is the bible of course.

Over the years I've collected, painted, gamed with, lost and given away literally THOUSANDS of troops in 1/72
Systems that got me involved the most were Alzo Zero's WWII skirmish Operation Overlord rules – for which I've had tournament armies for all sides; WAB (on 20x20mm bases) for which I've made up Romans, Greeks, Vikings, Teutonic and French from time to time; HOTT (the only "surviving" army at present).

On the table as we speak are Italeri Russian Infantry and Airfix Germans and US Marines for Blitzkrieg commander, EHMAR Vikings with three boxes of ESCI Barbarian Warriors, and two Zvezda English Infantry and one English Knights for WAB. The surviving HOTT army has also been stricken from its bases and will be rebased in the future on single bases.

1/72 to me is THE all-round scale. So much variety, so many lines (which can be used to suit games from gladiatorial arenas to modern urban combat and all periods in between..without breaking the bank!)
15mm is awesome if you're into DBx and model miniatures for tournaments. I love 15mm but it's never been my cup of tea (there's an Alexandrian force and Orcs from 15mm.co.uk sitting in the corner since time immemorial…)
25-28mm are outside my budget and sincerely speaking the miniatures are just too beautiful to receive my paintjobs…I paint to game (as in my painting leaves much to be desired!)
10mm is the only scale I'd look at to opt out of 1/72. That's due to the amazing mass effect (which can also be achieved via 6mm, if not better…)

All in all, this here gamer buys 1/72 to undercoat the sprues and paint the minis, then cut them out and after some finishing touches as they're cut out they are based and prepped to do battle.
And vehicles are easily accessible and heaps of fun to collect, too. Of course, terrain is always underhand from pet stores, on ebay or from railway shops.

Peace
S.

Wargame with them, of course. I started the hobby with Airfix plastics (mostly WWII, though I tried some early gaming with Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham figures), and went from there to early 25mm metal fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, and then back to historicals in 1987 after a hiatus of about ten years.

When I got back in ESCI and Revell were putting out some nice stuff in plastic, so I've usually had an auxiliary project in plastic while doing something else in metal. Right now (as in, I just moved over from the workbench to the computer while waiting for glue to dry) I'm working on some Caesar Miniatures Egyptians for a Bronze Age project in collaboration with my son; I hope to have a game on the table this evening or tomorrow. I've also got mostly finished projects in 1/32 scale medieval skirmish gaming, and 1/72 scale 2nd Punic War that get used fairly often, and a couple of other things deeper in the archives.

In recent years plastic has been attractive for reasons of cost, ease of transportation, and less caricatured sculpting (i.e. more "realistic" proportions).

I am going to game with my 1/72 plastics. I am assembling a French Hundred Years War army to go with the little Italeri St. Joan of Arc I got. Pity they have discontinued that set I hear, I like it a lot, though Zvezda's French 100ers seem to be better sets to fill out an army.

I can't put my finger on it, something about a painted 1/72 excites and inspires me the way the I felt when I first started buying lead Heritage and Hinchliffe minis a long time ago. 1/72 is great fun to paint!

Actually I don't have any opponants to play WAB against yet, but some people sound open to trying WAB locally because 1/72s are very economical. I think they will be pleased with the quality too!

Good question, fun to answer!

Be well all, and be blessed!
--- Gerry Lee

Wow, this thread is still going! I'm going to use my Ceasar fantasy figures in skirmish with Splintered Light's Splintered Lands figures. We'll see where else we go from there.

As a kid I "played" with Airfix and then moved onto painting and gaming. I changed to metal 25mm as I preferred the march attack pose for my games and not the variety of poses that came with 1/72 plastic.

hussarbob1746.webs.com

Like so many, I started with plastic, was corrupted by lead (LOL) I have always had a soft spot in my heart for plastics and I have now started collecting them again. While the selection may never equal lead the ability to modify plastics some what offsets the selection issue.

My next project is TYW using plastics and I have started collecting the GNW figures to be able to game with one of our group who is also doing plastics. We have already started ancient armies in plastic though I am slow in painting them. The other wonderful thing about plastics is that due to the cost they are perfect for "imagi-nations". If I want a unit in pink uniforms I find it easier to do just that without any guilt. No, I haven't painted any pink uniforms yet but…

All the best

Buy them, paint them, and game with them.

Like anyone I had hoards lying around for a while, but one day I decided I was going to dedicate a wholeweekend to painting the whole lot, which I did, organising them in an almost factory like process to get them done.

It was very satisfying.

I agree that some of the appeal is nostalgia. I started with Helen of Toy (from the back of comic books) and then Airfix figs in the 60's. I have 10's of 1000's of them. Started buying them again heavily in the early 90's. haven't stopped yet. Oh, I use them for gaming.

Thanks,

John

Over the years I've used HO/OO and 1/72 plastic figures for gaming mostly American Civilwar and WW2, I also had large collections of 25mm ancients Garrison initially followed by Hinchcliffe Minifigs Warrior Foundary Citadel etc etc and 28 mm fantasy mostly GW, but this was when metal minis were much cheaper.. as wargamers do I had far more unpainted then painted figures, 15-20 years ago I gave away or sold the bulk of my collection which included many now rare figures and boardgames.. largely because I had nowhere to keep it…. these days its only 1/72 plastic figures and models, cheap easy to convert and for the most part good ranges which are growing all the time and of course the low price is a factor too…. mostly Collecting, painting, converting although with a wargamers bias, Im thinking now more in terms of dioramas….

Cheers

One thing I forgot to mention was that when I started wargames there were actually very few plastic figures available really only airfix hence the mostly ancients metal figures that I collected early on, so this rather limited the possibility unless you were willing to do major conversions something I would'nt have done at that time…

Cheers